diff --git a/drivers/rapidio/devices/rio_mport_cdev.c b/drivers/rapidio/devices/rio_mport_cdev.c
index 48cd9b7f3b89..b8c09eaa23b5 100644
--- a/drivers/rapidio/devices/rio_mport_cdev.c
+++ b/drivers/rapidio/devices/rio_mport_cdev.c
@@ -1903,10 +1903,6 @@ static int mport_cdev_open(struct inode *inode, struct file *filp)
 
 	priv->md = chdev;
 
-	mutex_lock(&chdev->file_mutex);
-	list_add_tail(&priv->list, &chdev->file_list);
-	mutex_unlock(&chdev->file_mutex);
-
 	INIT_LIST_HEAD(&priv->db_filters);
 	INIT_LIST_HEAD(&priv->pw_filters);
 	spin_lock_init(&priv->fifo_lock);
@@ -1925,6 +1921,9 @@ static int mport_cdev_open(struct inode *inode, struct file *filp)
 	spin_lock_init(&priv->req_lock);
 	mutex_init(&priv->dma_lock);
 #endif
+	mutex_lock(&chdev->file_mutex);
+	list_add_tail(&priv->list, &chdev->file_list);
+	mutex_unlock(&chdev->file_mutex);
 
 	filp->private_data = priv;
 	goto out;